You’ve heard of desktop games before, but what about games that you play on your desktop?
It’s a somewhat Niche™ concept, but a lot of games actually use the player’s desktop, or a simulated one, as a playing area. This gives developers a lot of freedom to work with, be it for fourth wall breaks or simply to add some meta commentary into their projects.
If that doesn’t make sense just yet, then check out our selection of five indie games that take place inside of your desktop:
5- Ropuka’s Idle Island
Ropuka’s Idle Island is an idle desktop game where you watch a friendly frog work, sleep, and relax. The game takes place entirely on the player’s desktop, as a floating island that can be observed while working or browsing the internet.
The player can upgrade their frog’s stats by using cut grass as a currency, as well as purchase decorations for the floating island, as Ropuka’s Idle Island mostly serves as a casual incremental game.
The soundtrack is one of the game’s highlights, adding to the peaceful nature of the experience, alongside the low-poly dithered art. Ropuka’s Idle Island evokes the feeling of older computer widgets, which served as helpful tools or little games for PC users to distract themselves with.
Ropuka’s Idle Island is available on Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
4- Outcore: Desktop Adventure
Outcore: Desktop Adventure is a game where players befriend Lumi, a girl who now lives on your desktop. Lumi is very similar to a desktop mascot in a way, but has lost her memories and needs the player’s help to recover them.
The game takes its premise and completely runs with it, featuring puzzles that will have players going deep into their own computers to solve. Outcore also steps into light psychological horror territory at points, playing with our collective fear of data corruption and viruses.
Outcore is entirely free and takes an average of three hours to complete. It is a game with fantastic usage of meta narrative, as well as some of the most creative desktop interactions you’ll find.
Outcore: Desktop Adventure is available on Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
3- Rusty’s Retirement
Rusty’s Retirement is an idle automation game that pops out of your taskbar while you work or navigate the internet. In this game, players watch the retired robot Rusty tend to his crops, which are used to produce energy-efficient biofuel.
The game has a big focus on automation, as players can create miniature robots to help Rusty in his job, giving it an incremental feel as you expand your farm and get to work on more crops at once.
Rusty’s Retirement provides users with a great way to unwind while they work work, featuring focus modes that regulate the game’s speed so you don’t need to constantly pay attention it.
Rusty’s Retirement is available on Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
2- Kingsway
Kingsway is a fantasy RPG disguised as an operating system, and although it doesn’t necessarily use the player’s own desktop, it creates its own simulated environment for players to navigate through.
The game lets you fully customize your character and its stats, featuring a good selection of classes to try out, as well as loads of different equipment and skills. The main gameplay loop comes from exploring, completing quests, and fighting monsters that show up as pop-up windows in the overworld.
Kingsway is probably the most different game on this list, but it is an absolute hidden gem that passed people by. The retro aesthetic makes the game very nostalgic to play through, and the way it uses its UI as a main gameplay feature is quite creative.
Kingsway is available on Microsoft Windows (through Steam).
1- Desktop Survivors 98
Finishing up our list we have the upcoming Desktop Survivors 98, a roguelike dungeon crawler that equips your mouse with deadly weapons.
The game works similarly to Brotato, having players survive combat encounters for a minute every time they enter a new room. Defeating enemies give you gold and experience, which can be used to acquire new weapons that attach to your mouse or new passive upgrades.
Desktop Survivors 98 is not out yet, but features a fun demo for players to try out, which helps showcase a good amount of its unlocks and powers, serving as an early taste of this unique survivors experience.
Desktop Survivors 98 is set to release at some point in 2025 for Microsoft Windows (through Steam), and you can try out its demo right now.